LAS VEGAS -- A Utah man scaled two security barriers and jumped to his death from the observation deck of the 1,149-foot Stratosphere Tower hotel-casino late Wednesday, police said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Wayne Petersen said the 24-year-old man had to overcome several obstacles to jump off the observation deck at the 1,100-foot level of the space needle-shaped tower midway between the Las Vegas Strip and downtown."You have to go over two fences to get off of that," Petersen said. "So you really have to be fairly determined to jump."
About six seconds elapsed from the time the man cleared the first barrier until he jumped, Willer said. "If you were 10 feet away, you couldn't have got this guy," he said.
The jumper bounced off a glass-enclosed observation deck that juts from beneath the outdoor deck, according to Tom Willer, Stratosphere vice president of marketing.
The man's body landed in bushes about 30 feet from workers in a valet parking area. No one on the ground was injured.
The Clark County Coroner's Office identified the man as Mitchell M. Mayfield of Tooele. Three people who may have been contemplating suicide have previously cleared both barriers, but none jumped from the tower, Willer said. At least five people have jumped from the tower with parachutes, Willer added. Willer said the hotel will review the latest incident but doubts security measures will be changed. "In this particular case, this gentleman was unwavering in his resolve to end his life quickly."